Hayden Middle School, Hayden AL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Hayden Middle School

Hayden Middle School serves grades five through seven in the town of Hayden, a small, primarily residential community in southwestern Blount County. The town is strung along a state highway corridor and is car-dependent, with civic buildings and all four of the local schools—primary, elementary, middle, and high—located along that same road. Hayden has seen very strong population growth in recent decades, and the town markets itself as a family-oriented place with access to Interstate 65 and a lower tax rate than neighboring counties. The school is part of the Blount County district.

The school enrollment is predominantly white, reflecting the demographics of the town itself. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, putting the school above the midpoint among the county's two districts on an overall proficiency index that averages math and English language arts results.

Academically, the school shows a clear split between math and reading. English language arts proficiency rates are solid, with the strongest performance at fifth grade and seventh grade not far behind; sixth grade trails a bit but still lands above half of students meeting the bar. Math proficiency is markedly lower across all three grades, with roughly two out of five students scoring proficient in each grade. A parent may want to ask the school about math support and intervention strategies, particularly since the gap between math and reading is wide. Science results are available only from several years ago and used a different assessment, so no current read on science is possible from the data on hand. The proficiency index for the school places it above the midpoint among Blount County’s two districts, meaning this school is the stronger performer of the pair, though the countywide set is small.

No information was reported for chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing. The state testing data comes from the most recent administration, so the proficiency picture is current. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was reported. There is no graduation rate because the school ends at seventh grade; students move on to Hayden High School.

The Blount County district has recently opened a new career technical center, expanding options for students once they reach high school. For families considering Hayden Middle School, the academic profile suggests a school with a clear reading strength and a math challenge. The town is small, family-oriented, and growing, with a highway-oriented layout and few walkable amenities. The school itself is one of four in a pipeline that keeps students on the same campus corridor from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 38% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 45% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 742%

School 42% · District 21% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 71% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

Grade 662%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 772%

School 72% · District 61% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · district not reported

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 736%

School 36% · district not reported

This schoolBlount County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income75%Higher-income79%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income52%Higher-income68%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income67%Higher-income74%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income45%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income51%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income35%Higher-income46%11 pp gap